“Heavy with embellished cliché.” Read on for the full verdict on last night’s TV.

Rich Man, Poor Man: A Knight’s Tale

Rich Man, Poor Man: A Knight’s Tale, BBC4
“This was an appallingly written film, heavy with embellished cliché, light on taste and wincingly ignorant.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

Rich Man, Poor Man: A Knight’s Tale, BBC4
“After watching a film that promised too much, I too felt that I’d missed out on getting to know John better.”
Sean O’Grady, The Independent

Rich Man, Poor Man: A Knight’s Tale, BBC4
“It looked as if it were an extended edition of Who Do You Think You Are?. Thankfully, the programme was more confused about its identity than its subject.”
John Crace, The Guardian

Rich Man, Poor Man: A Knight’s Tale, BBC4
“This could have been very predictable – the absurdly rich bloke, toast of the town, up for a knighthood but deep down, sad and solitary. What lifted this above such clichés was its sense that people can change, all the time, for the most unexpected reasons.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

Desperate Romantics, BBC2
“Drew to a close in much the same way as it started – with nudity, farce and melodrama.”
John Crace, The Guardian

Desperate Romantics, BBC2
“Ended, heroically finding ways to trivialise even Lizzie Rossetti’s suicide.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

Coast, BBC2
“Last night they went off to Norway…..No one promised it was meant to be specific to Britain. Coast is a generic term. And they will go anywhere they feel like.”
John Crace, The Guardian

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